Rise & Shine: What role does gifted play in creating more diverse specialized high schools?

BOTTLENECK With student diversity lacking in specialized high schools, we took a look at whether gifted education can serve as a pipeline to the elite schools. The numbers don’t break evenly among students’ race and ethnicity. Chalkbeat

DOLLARS AND SENSE A new report says that suspending and removing students from schools costs New York City millions. New York Daily News

WATER PROBLEMS One out of every 20 taps in New York City schools tested positive for elevated levels of lead. New York Post

ED PLATFORM Mayoral candidate Paul Massey says he would bring back letter-grades for schools and push for more charters. New York Post

TESTS FOR VOUCHERS Indiana has one of the largest school voucher programs in the country. It also has among the strictest accountability measures in place, requiring private schools to test their students and show gains — or lose the ability to receive state funding. Chalkbeat

SHARED EXPERIENCES After a recent study showed that having a black teacher can help black students succeed in school, one New York City teacher says that’s no surprise. “Students respond differently to teachers whom they can relate to,” writes David Jackson. New York Times

HIGH-POWERED PROMISE America’s Promise Alliance, led by Gen. Colin Powell, will host leaders and education advocates from across the political spectrum in New York City this week. The group will address equity issues in education. The 74

FINE PRINT Opinion: The messy budget process resulted in a “free” college plan that raise questions over how ambitious the program really is. New York Times

TROOPERS Girl Scout Troop 6000 is the first for homeless children in New York City. Children make up 40 percent of the 40,000 people in shelters here. New York Times

LONG-TERM COMMITMENT Many of the students at Staten Island Academy are “lifers” who started at the independent school in pre-K. Staten Island Advance

STEM VS THE ARTS? While the lack of women in STEM fields has gotten considerable attention, some wonder whether it has come at the expense of supporting women in the arts. The Atlantic